1) You are never completely "DONE" with the laundry. Laundry is no longer a once a week chore.
It's not even a once a day chore for us!

Laundry multiplies like rabbits around here,
and when something breaks down (like our dryer did two weeks ago),
then it means a big trip to the laundry mat to catch up :)

2) Eating a meal or two may utilize your entire cupboard's worth of dishes. Even though we own quite a lot of dishes,
it doesn't stop us from being able to dirty them all
in one day!

Cutlery usually goes first, followed by the cups...
and the bowls, then the plates.

In times of crisis, we skip using real dishes altogether & improvise
with some fine dining paper plates from our local Dollar store.

3) Grocery shopping is an all out affair. No one can throw down grocery shopping quite like a large family.

Whether it's a fairly large Costco run...
Or a full week's cart of menu items.

And we cannot forget the small runs during the week
for the things that always seem to run out!

4) Your very presence in public invites unsolicited comments on birth control... I am not sure why some people feel the need to inspect our private lives in public.

What if us large families reciprocated??

"So, you just decided to stop at two...was that part of the plan?"

"Too much TV for you guys eh, and not enough time together?"

"You guys sure do well at that birth control thing."

Sounds pretty rude, doesn't it?

No worries; I've forgiven anyone who has done this unknowingly :)

5) Going out is a special affair complete with planning, packing & executing your mission.Most evenings, I am already planning my next morning...Most Sundays, I am mentally plotting out our upcoming week...A few times per week, I am writing on & checking out our large family calendar on the fridge.A large family cannot thrive, or in my opinion SURVIVE, without taking the time to plan...Although with some of us it's only a mental plan, but trust me, it's happening.

6) Your children always, always have someone to play (or argue!) with.My children don't often get bored. From the time the first one arises in the morning (usually around 7am or earlier),
we have a loud amount of noise until the last ones (usually the teens)
hit the sack in the late eve.

It is non-stop action for our whole household!

Although the typical sibling arguments are commonplace in our home,
more often than not I hear them playing, talking & laughing.

Right now one of them is singing and trying to make their younger siblings smile...

7) Multitasking is no longer an option for you. It has become a way of life! Nursing a baby, listening to a teen share their peer problems, thinking about the next meal, and
trying to text hubby about when he is going to be home this eve.

I find there is almost always someone that needs my attention, and
something that needs doing...

It's actually a reality for ALL of us Mamas (& Papas!), but, as you can imagine,
it's usually multiplied in a larger family.

8) Shopping "thrifty" is not simply an environmental trend. Thrifty is great for the environment, of course, but for us,
it's become a way of life!

I used to buy lots of new clothes for myself as a young teen/adult.

Now, I find great joy in pursuing the "deals" for everyone. It's not that
we don't purchase new (for special situations we do, say like family pictures, or
dance classes, etc.), but $100 at a thrift store (especially when
they have those 50% off days!!) goes much farther
then at a new store, even a "Walmart"...

9) You may not have your whole entire family invited to all the "things"This one makes me sad, sometimes, but honestly, I get it.Who wants to invite 9 people into a teeny home or apartment??Usually, when we get our entire family together with another family, we opt for a neutral location (say a park or McD's), or we have them here. However, some people aren't able to OR aren't comfortable making the accommodations.
It hurts for any person to feel left out, but I've learned to be thankful for the friends
that we do have. Lifers :)

The reality is, not everyone will support your choice to have a large family.

They may not agree with you, or your life's journey.

We have to be okay with that.

10) You'll be living the wildest, most joy-filled rewarding adventure you could ever imagine!!!

Labour Story In Brief We arrived at the set date for induction, bags packed
& ready to go.

Not sure what to expect, as the last two inductions were
polar opposites of each other (#5 was long & very hard at 18 hours; #6
was shorter & more intense at around 6 hours).

I finally got hooked up to the drip around 9:45 a.m.

The contractions started to pick up in their intensity
by lunch time, so I mulled it over (albeit briefly!!)
and decided that with the factor of baby's LARGE size in the mix, let's go
for an epidural PLEASE & THANK YOU!!

The epidural took four attempts and two doctors (ooy!)...I
was in tears by the end of it (like bee stings...just kept
telling myself soon I won't feel any of this!)

Finally, when it 'took', I was so frozen that I was ready to "nap"...

I rested for a bit, when my midwife "interrupted" me.

How dare she?! (wink, wink)

She was only letting
me know that the readings were showing that baby
was ready to be pushed out.

I sorta argued with her (I mean who doesn't like their rest?! Lol..)
and then she reminded me why we were all there ;)

Not long after that, I did some moving around to help baby turn around,
and within a short time it was only a few quick pushes, and he arrived!

____________________

We knew he was large just by looking at him, but he
wasn't chubby or overly "huge" looking to me.

Finally, we weighed him.
What a surprise when the scale registered him in at 10 pounds & 3 ounces!!

I was shocked...well, sorta.

The pain I had been in for the last number of months
indicated he might be a beastly size.

He was quieter than some of my other babies, but alert.

Feeding went well right from the get go (thankfully!).

Very dark blue eyes, so we're still
not sure if they'll change to brown or hazel
(both of us have siblings with darker eyes).

I then got settled into the hospital and thus began our journey into
parenthood with our brood of seven....

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About Me

Imperfectly perfect in His sight. "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."